Meditation as Complementary Treatment for Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy

Diastolic blood pressure control in pregnant women with chronic hypertension between intervention group (meditation practice) and control group, in the transition from the second to the third trimester of pregnancy, when there is a physiologic increase in arterial pressure. The diastolic pressure check will be in outpatient consultation with intervals of 15 days, during 8 weeks. The device used for checking the pressure will be the GAMMA XXL LF of Heine General Medicine. All blood pressure checks either in the intervention group or control group will be performed on the same device.

Systolic blood pressure control in pregnant women with chronic hypertension between intervention group (meditation practice) and control group, in the transition from the second to the third trimester of pregnancy, when there is a physiologic increase in arterial pressure. The systolic pressure check will be in outpatient consultation with intervals of 15 days, during. The device used for checking the pressure will be the GAMMA XXL LF of Heine General Medicine. All blood pressure checks either in the intervention group or control group will be performed on the same device.

Checking potential increases or decreases in the quality life indicator during pregnancy using the Whoqol-Bref questionnaire as a result measure. The questionnaire will be applied at the entrance of the participant in the study and at the end of the 8 weeks. This questionnaire is composed of four domains of quality of life, totaling 24 questions. The answers follow a Likert scale (from 1 to 5) and the domain scores for the WHOQOL-BREF were calculated by multiplying the mean of all items included within the domain by four. Potential scores for all domain scores, therefore, range from 4-20. Only the total quality of life score will be considered in this study. For this study, a larger score on the Whoqol-Bref demonstrates a better outcome for the group performing the meditation intervention.

Checking potential increase or decreases of anxiety and depression indicators during pregnancy using the HADS Scale as a result measure. The questionnaire will be applied at the entrance of the participant in the study and at the end of the 8 weeks. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) consist of 14 questions. It was divided into an Anxiety subscale (HADS-A) consist of 07 questions and a Depression subscale (HADS-D) consist of 07 questions both containing seven intermingled items. Each items can be scored from zero (0) to three (3), composing a maximum score of 21 points for each sub-scale. HAD-anxiety: no anxiety from 0 to 8, with anxiety ≥ 9; HAD-depression: without depression from 0 to 8, with depression ≥ 9. For this study, a larger score on the Resilience Scale demonstrates a worst outcome for the group performing the meditation intervention.

Checking potential increase or decreases of the capacity to adapt and restore equilibrium to their lives and avoid the potentially deleterious effects of stress, during pregnancy using the Resilience Scale as a result measure. The questionnaire will be applied at the entrance of the participant in the study and at the end of the 8 weeks. The Resilience Scale is the scale that consist of 25 questions concerning the capacity to adapt and restore equilibrium to their lives to be rated on a 7-point scale The Likert scale ranged from (1) disagree to (7) agree, with higher scores reflecting higher levels of trait mindfulness. Possible scores range from 25 to 175 with higher scores reflecting higher resilience. For this study, a larger score on the Resilience Scale demonstrates a better outcome for the group performing the meditation intervention.

Checking potential increase or decreases on the presence or absence of attention to and awareness of what is occurring in the present, that differentiates meditation practitioners from others, during pregnancy using the MAAS as a result measure. The questionnaire will be applied at the entrance of the participant in the study and at the end of the 8 weeks. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale is the unidimensional scale that consists of 15 questions concerning attention or awareness in routine situations to be rated on a 6-point scale on how frequently or infrequently the teste experiences those situations. The Likert scale ranged from (1) almost always to (6) almost never, with higher scores reflecting higher levels of trait mindfulness. The lowest possible value to be achieved when answering this scale is 15 and the highest possible value is 90. For this study, a larger score on the MAAS scale demonstrates a better outcome for the group performing the meditation intervention.